Comparing Whole Numbers

Show your work for each problem.

1.
Which symbol correctly compares and ?
1. a)
2. b)
3. c)
4. d)Cannot compare
Answer:
Both have 3 digits. Hundreds are equal (2). Tens: 4 < 7, so .
2.
Which number is greater: or ?
1. a)
2. b)
3. c)They are equal
4. d)Need more information
Answer:
has 3 digits and has 2 digits. A 3-digit number is always greater than a 2-digit number, so .
3.
Fill in the blank with , , or : ___
Answer: <
Both have 3 digits, hundreds equal (1). Tens: 5 < 6, so .
4.
Fill in the blank: ___
Answer: >
Both have 3 digits. Hundreds: 5 > 4, so .
5.
Compare and . Which is greater?
Answer: 687
1. How many digits does each number have? 3
2. What is the hundreds digit in both numbers? 6
3. Are the hundreds equal? (yes/no) yes
4. Compare the tens digits. 7 vs 8. Which is larger? 8
5. So which number is greater? 687
6.
Which list is ordered from least to greatest?
1. a)
2. b)
3. c)
4. d)
Answer:
Comparing hundreds: 3 < 4 < 5. Between 345 and 354, tens differ: 4 < 5. So order is .
7.
Which number is the smallest: , , , or ?
1. a)
2. b)
3. c)
4. d)
Answer:
All have thousands = 1. Hundreds: 2, 0, 5, 5. The smallest hundreds digit is 0, so is smallest.
8.
Fill in the blank: ___
Answer: <
Thousands (3) and hundreds (4) are equal. Tens: 5 < 6, so .
9.
What is the largest number: , , or ?
Answer: 2918
All have 4 digits with thousands = 2. Hundreds: 8, 9, 1. Since 9 > 8 > 1, the largest is .
10.
Order from least to greatest: , ,
Answer: 4125, 4251, 4521
1. What is the thousands digit for all three numbers? 4
2. Since thousands are equal, compare hundreds. What are the hundreds digits? 5, 1, 2
3. Which hundreds digit is smallest? 1
4. So which number is smallest? 4125
5. Between 4,521 and 4,251, which is smaller? 4251
6. Write the final order from least to greatest. 4125, 4251, 4521
11.
A store sold items on Monday and items on Tuesday. On which day did they sell more?
Answer: Tuesday
1. What are the two numbers to compare? 1847 and 1874
2. Do both numbers have the same number of digits? yes
3. Compare thousands. Are they equal? yes
4. Compare hundreds. Are they equal? yes
5. Compare tens: 4 vs 7. Which is greater? 7
6. So which day had more sales? Tuesday
12.
Which statement is TRUE?
1. a)
2. b)
3. c)
4. d)
Answer:
has 5 digits; has 4 digits. A 5-digit number is always greater than any 4-digit number, so is TRUE.
13.
Order from greatest to least: , , ,
Answer: 25431, 25341, 24531, 24351
Ten-thousands all equal (2). Thousands: 25,xxx > 24,xxx. Within 25,xxx: 431 > 341. Within 24,xxx: 531 > 351. Order: .
14.
Find the largest 4-digit number using the digits 3, 7, 2, and 9 (use each digit once).
Answer: 9732
To make the largest number, arrange digits from largest to smallest: . The largest 4-digit number is .
15.
Three friends compared their video game scores. Ali: , Ben: , Cara: . Order them from highest to lowest score.
Answer: Ben, Ali, Cara
1. How many digits do all three scores have? 6
2. What are the first three digits of all scores? 127
3. Since 127 is the same, compare the hundreds digits. What are they? 8, 8, 4
4. Whose score has the smallest hundreds digit? Cara
5. Between Ali (845) and Ben (854), compare the tens. Which is larger? 5
6. Who has the highest score? Ben
7. Order from highest to lowest. Ben, Ali, Cara
16.
Find all 3-digit numbers that are greater than and less than .
Answer: 549, 550, 551, 552
1. What is the smallest whole number greater than 548? 549
2. What is the largest whole number less than 553? 552
3. List all whole numbers from 549 to 552. 549, 550, 551, 552
17.
Which comparison is correct?
1. a)
2. b)
3. c)
4. d)
Answer:
has 3 digits and has 4 digits. A 4-digit number is always greater than a 3-digit number, so .